Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Did the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company really publicly
vow to “not engage in price gouging actions or predatory pricing”?

Yes, Allergan president and CEO Brent Saunders really did,
in a blog that he posted on the company’s website this morning.

When I learned about the blog post from an
article on TheStreet.com, I jumped to the post
itself looking for fodder for a piece I planned to write about the dangers
of making false promises in the digital age. I mean, we live in the era of the 300
EpiPen, where you have to increase the price of your pharmaceutical
products by 4,000
percent before anybody pays attention to you. There was no way Allergan’s
CEO promised to “take price increases no more than once per year and, when we
do, they will be limited to single-digit percentage increases.”

But he did. And he encouraged his CEO peers to do the same.

And while this is fascinating in itself and good news for
shareholders (Allergan
closed up 1.34%), what I found most intriguing about Saunders’ blog post is
that it was a textbook example (or would that be a “kindle example” now) of
effective 21st century communications.

Here are four lessons you need to learn from one of the most
unlikely blog posts on the Internet today.

You have to have
something significant to say. I’ll admit I struggled a bit as I waded
through the first few paragraphs of corporate-speak about “commitment to
innovation, access and responsible pricing ideals” before I got to “we will
limit price increases.” But then I was hooked.

You have to be
candid. Check this out. Not only does Saunders vow that, “We will not
engage in the practice of taking major price increases without corresponding
cost increases as our products near patent expiration,” but he accentuates the
point by admitting they have done just
that in the past. “While we have participated in this industry practice in
the past, we will stop this practice going forward.” That’s gold, Jerry! GOLD!

It helps to speak
from the heart. I’m sure Saunders’ post had to get cleared by Legal, but it
still contains the language of a man who is being honest. One small example: “I
don’t like what is happening, and despite the fact that it is hard to speak out
publicly on this, now is the time to take action to spell out what this social
contract means to me.”

Deliver a call
to action. A good blog post inspires. A great one directs people to act. And
Saunders does just that. “For our industry to remain a vibrant and important
part of the healthcare ecosystem, Allergan commits to this social contract and
I encourage others to formulate their own self-policing actions.”

It’s not often that I am impressed by a corporate blog post,
especially one signed by the CEO. But
this one is worth the read.